Week 21

T came over today and we pruned the lavender bushes using his cutting machine. We were supposed to do it a couple of weeks ago but it has rained the last two Tuesdays. The drought appears to be breaking, it has bucketed down the last few days.

It took half a day to get the lavender trimmed. T drove the cutting machine while I spent all my time ferrying the cuttings from the field up to the house where I have them piled up near the vege garden. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them. I read something about mulching the vege garden over winter which seems like a pretty good idea, but I'm going to have to read up on it a bit first. I'd originally been planning on loading the clippings onto the back of the truck but at the last minute discovered I don't actually have the keys to the truck, P does. So I used the tractor instead, and singlehandedly managed to change the lawn mowing attachment for the scoop attachment. The only downside was that it could hold one bagfull at a time, hence the constant back and forth.

We have been enjoying drinking homemade passionfruit juice. Have discovered it is very easy to make, and can just go out and pick 4 fruit off the vine whenever we need to make more juice. The only time consuming part is that you need to wait for the syrup to cool down before you can strain the pulp out and turn it into juice.

Our feijoas are now getting ready to pick. I've already picked 3kg worth. I know we can't eat that many but I'm not sure how to preserve them - have done a bit of a search and not found very much. I've never eaten a feijoa before and on first taste found it a bit bitter. But have since been told they still need to ripen a bit after they fall off the tree.

Our mandarins are also maturing. Have eaten a couple already. They are the perfect size for V to eat.

Have noticed a lot of fantails and wasps around lately. Not sure if they are drawn by the ripening fruit or what. I love watching the fantails flitting about.

Our neighbours at the cafe have said they are interested in grazing on our land. We've agreed that if they can fix the fences then they can put their stock there. I've noticed some of the fences have been mended already but haven't seen them doing it. It will be nice to have something happening in the fields finally.

-M